THE MEDIA BUSINESS

THE MEDIA BUSINESS; New Hits Bolster ABC's Hand for the Fall

By BILL CARTER

Published: April 18, 1994

This is the kind of season ABC had in the annual prime-time ratings contest:

The network had the No. 1 series on television, "Home Improvement." It had the No. 1 new comedy, "Grace Under Fire." It had the No. 1 new drama, "N.Y.P.D. Blue." It had the No. 1 spring season show, "These Friends of Mine." It even had the No. 1 new newsmagazine, "Turning Point."'

None of that was enough to push ABC past CBS for the completely mythical title of national champion in prime time. But ABC's performance was enough to set off a simmering argument over just which network really has the goods to be the king of the prime-time hill next season.

The final tally for the 1993-94 season, which officially ended last night, will be made this week, although the overall standings are well established at this point. CBS will win its third straight season, with a lofty 14.1 rating; ABC will be a rather distant second at 12.5. But the gap would certainly be slimmer if it were not for CBS's extraordinary showing during its two weeks of Winter Olympics coverage.

That's where the contention starts. ABC is telling the industry that without the Olympics, CBS would have finished just two-tenths of a ratings point ahead of it. But CBS says that measurement is bogus because it assumes that CBS would have had no successful programs at all during those 16 nights in February. 13 Weeks at No. 1

ABC also points out that it won 13 weeks in the competition with CBS, NBC and Fox this season. That was ABC's best total since 1979, and almost twice its seven victories the previous season. Further, ABC dominated the ratings for what it considers its target audience, viewers between 18 and 49. (CBS aims for, and won, a slightly older audience group, 25 to 54.)

Ted Harbert, who just completed his first season as the president of ABC Entertainment, said, "In the more modern television times -- post-cable, that is -- we have never been better set up going into a new season than we are right now."

That setup includes broadcasting the World Series next fall and the Super Bowl next winter. Mr. Harbert cited how successfully ABC had introduced shows this season and, as a consequence, how few new series it would need to introduce next fall. ABC managed to shore up its Friday night lineup, oriented toward children, with a couple of successful new entries -- "Boy Meets World" and "Sister, Sister," this season.

Mr. Harbert said ABC had introduced so many promising programs during the last few months that it might have trouble fitting them all onto its fall schedule. Success in Scheduling

ABC certainly was the most skillful network in giving series the best opportunity to find audiences, mainly by playing them after existing hits like "Home Improvement" and "Roseanne."

"I think we manage our assets very well," Mr. Harbert said. But he stopped short of predicting that ABC would dethrone CBS next year, saying, "I just don't like the prediction business."

But some in the television industry are less reticent. Bob Crestani, the executive vice president of the William Morris Agency, said of ABC, "These guys are incredibly hot -- and they'll be even hotter next year."

Betsy Frank, senior vice president of Saatchi & Saatchi Advertising, said: "I thought it was possible ABC would overtake CBS this year, but the Olympics got in the way. I think I would probably say ABC, just based on their regular series, is the network to beat next season." Not Ready to Give Up the Throne

There are other executives willing to predict what will happen next season: they are from CBS. Jeff Sagansky, who is soon to leave his job as president of CBS Entertainment, scoffed at the suggestion that ABC was poised to bring CBS down. "If I had a buck for every time ABC has been saying they'll be No. 1 over the past 15 years, I could have retired long ago," Mr. Sagansky said. "I think we're going to beat them again next year."

To CBS, much of what ABC accomplished this year is an illusion. The CBS executives pointed out that ABC's strength was concentrated on three nights -- Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday -- and that the bonanza in programming had occurred because ABC placed so many new shows in the same time periods on those nights.

For example, "Grace Under Fire" has been a hit, but ABC took it off four weeks ago to make room, temporarily, for "These Friends of Mine." CBS argues that ABC cannot reasonably take credit for having created two hits because both shows occupied the same address -- after "Home Improvement" on Wednesday nights -- and only one of them can live there next fall.

Similarly, CBS argues that ABC cannot use two episodes of "Home Improvement" every Wednesday next fall, as it has done for the last six weeks to protect another new series, "Thunder Alley." Weakness on Saturdays

Mr. Sagansky also said ABC "refuses even to compete on Saturday nights." Indeed, Mr. Harbert acknowledged that ABC would not transfer any of its promising new series to that troubled night next fall but would instead fill two hours with new family-oriented movies.

"I'm truly excited about the prospects for the movie," Mr. Harbert said, though he agreed that the move was also based on economic considerations. He said ABC had lost about $80 million trying to put regular series on Saturday nights in recent years.

Mr. Sagansky said CBS ought to get more credit for fixing its Friday night problem this season, just as it fixed Saturday night last season. "We had four weak nights two years ago," he said. "We had three going into this season, and we'll only have two going into next season."

But Mr. Harbert emphasized that ABC had found an overall strategy -- a concentration on shows aimed at young families -- that was working. "I want to take steps to further identify us as the family network," he said. "If you're going to have a niche in broadcasting, I think that's the one to have."

The reason, he said, is that it is still more appealing to advertisers to reach younger viewers. "If the national economy continues to be strong," Mr. Harbert said, "I think we are well set up to knock down some major revenues for this company."